


Back Home

by valflaming



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Gen, Happy Ending?, furehomu but not explicitly so, mentions of yusaku but not enought to put him as a character, moving forward hurts, takeru missing flame and kiku being there for him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:46:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28244124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/valflaming/pseuds/valflaming
Summary: Takeru is trying to move forward, but Flame's absence hurts at every step he makes.
Relationships: Flame & Homura Takeru, Homura Takeru & Kamishirakawa Kiku
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	Back Home

Flame was gone.

That was something he had come to accept. Or at least that's what he told himself every time he thought about his Ignis; he had to keep moving forward for him and that's what he was trying to do now as he waited for the train to arrive.

He looked at the clock on his phone and opened his messages. He’d send a message do Yusaku last night to tell him he was finally leaving Den City, telling him the time and station he’d be at with faint hope that they could have a proper goodbye but, much the same as the hundreds of messages he’d sent him before, this one was received but never opened.

He figured Yusaku was too busy searching for Ai, still the hope that he’d show up remained until the train arrived at the station.

He walked through the doors once more, it was time to go back home but this time he was alone. Last time he was on this train Flame was with him and just like that time, he decided to occupy one of the far-away seats. He wasn't carrying much luggage; most of the stuff he had acquired in Den City he left at his apartment: some clothes, his posters, and also his uniform.

There was no point in keeping stuff he wouldn't use anymore.

Be it the time or simply the fact that not many people traveled to the place he lived at, he had the whole row of seats  —almost the entire wagon, really — all to himself, and without caring for manners he put his feet up on the seat and hugged his knees as he looked out the window.

Besides the sound of the moving train, everything else was too silent and once again he thought of Flame.

All the questions he did the first- the only time they were on this train together. Flame was too loud but his enthusiasm for something as simple as a train was endearing, or at least it was until Flame started to dig into the web for information and ended up giving him a class about the origin of trains that only stopped when they arrived at Den City and Flame got distracted with other things, such as the high buildings and multitude of vehicles that weren’t so common back home.

Sighing, he hid his face between his chest and knees; that was a warm memory and still, it was painful, there would never be a chance to build new memories like that one.

He bit his lip and had to take off his glasses in order to clean away the tears that escaped his eyes; the sky was clear enough that not even a single cloud dared to cover the sun and its warmth went through the window to reach him as if calling for his attention to break him out of his bubble. He raised his head and looked through the window, the change in scenery told him that he was near home.

Resting his head on the window, he found comfort on the sunlight’s embrace, which reminded him of the warmth presence of his Ignis; if he placed his hand on the window and closed his eyes, he could pretend he was taking his hand just like he did when he had nightmares and Flame took a bigger form to accommodate with him, wrap him and comfort him with his presence.

They promised to keep moving forward and that's what he planned to do, except this time he’d have to do it alone.

* * *

When he got off the train, Kiku was there to welcome him.

The same Kiku as always, with the same smile as always; Kiku was, just like Flame, a warm presence in his life. Although she never took direct action and rather seemed like she believed he’d move on on his own once he was ready. He couldn’t help but start crying and reached to hug her, even if Kiku might not understand everything that happened to him or the reason for his reaction to seeing her.

“Welcome home, Takeru” Kiku caressed his hair, she had known him all his life and knew that asking for a reason now wouldn’t get her anything.

He was grateful for that and promised to himself that he’d tell Kiku everything eventually, once he stopped feeling his throat going dry when trying to bring up the subject.

Back in Den City, as he focused on his mission with Yusaku, there wasn't much time to think stuff through or worry about anything; it was always one fight after another after another and at the end of the day he was too tired to think.

Too tired to _ care. _

Now there was nothing to fight for, nothing to distract him from his loss and from how terribly exhausted he really was. He hugged Kiku a little tighter and buried his face on her shoulder.

“I’m home.”

* * *

  
  


“You cut your hair,” He didn’t notice before when he was crying, but now that they were walking towards his grandparents' house the lack of the characteristic braid that Kiku always wore was obvious.

“And you changed yours,” Kiku pointed out, giggling when he hastily pulled his hair back so it was back to his usual style. "It's been really hot this summer, so I decided to cut it when we went on vacation. Although if I'm honest, I regret it a bit. I miss being able to do different hairstyles."

"Hmm ... well I think it looks good on you." He let it out without thinking much or giving it much importance until Kiku stared at him, judging. “What? It’s true.”

"If I didn't know you, I'd say you're flirting with me, Takeru." - Kiku said in a mocking tone before nudging his side and getting a groan out of him as she caught her off guard.

His face felt hot, he was definitely embarrassed by that comment.

"How can you think I would do that? It’d be too weird. Besides, you know I don't ...“

"Ah, so you say you don't like me?" What, you don't think I'm pretty?”

He snorted at that comment, he already knew where this was going.

“Nope. You are horrendous. An evil witch if I’ve ever seen one!”

"Uish, Takeru!" Kiku gave him a push and they both stopped and exchanged glances before they burst out laughing.

It was the first time in a long time that he could laugh so freely.

“I missed you lots, Takeru” Kiku’s smile made her shine before his eyes; he’d always thought she was pretty and at this point, it was surprising she didn't have a boyfriend already.

“I missed you too”

Kiku ran his hand down his back and he rested his own on her friend's shoulder before they resumed their stride, walking together.

“But call me an evil witch again and I’ll throw your entire collection of posters into the ocean”

“¡¿Ehhh?!”

* * *

Their walk was spent between jokes and loud chit chat but it did not take long for them to reach his house.

“It’s bigger than I remembered,” His home always felt way too big for just three people, and now with the sun hiding behind it made it’s shadow bigger, making it look more intimidating.

He swallowed hard as he looked at it.

“You lived in a tiny apartment back in the city, it's normal that it seems bigger now.”

“I guess...”

Kiku let go and stepped away.

“Well, princess, I’ve taken you back to your castle,” Kiku bowed playfully before handing him the bag she'd been carrying to help him with his luggage. "Now I must go home or I’ll be a knight trapped in a tower for the rest of the summer."

He laughed at the comparison and smiled, fully aware of how strict Kiku’s parents were with timing.

“Ah, and one more thing,” Kiku got close one more time, resting one hand on his shoulder. Her free hand reached and ruffled his hair until it was more or less back to how it looked before. “I like your new style a lot more”

His face was so red it could compete with the colors of the sunset, but Kiku had already walked away before she could notice.

* * *

Contrary to Kiku's warm reception, his grandparents' welcome wasn’t a pleasant experience.

His grandfather never agreed to let him go and study elsewhere, and now he came back without even having finished the school year. His anger was justifiable and he understood why he seemed to be just ignoring him; still, he was grateful for his grandmother not doing the same, or else he’d probably starve to death.

* * *

When the uncomfortably silent dinner was over he went straight up to his room and paid no mind to where he threw his bags. His futon was stored in the closet and aside from his desk and chair the room just felt… empty.

He sighed.

He knew he’d come back to this emptiness but didn’t expect it to feel so… heavy. Maybe he should get himself a bed just so he could throw himself at it whenever he got home, just like he did back in Den City.

Before getting to unpacking his bags, he got the futon out of the closet and set it on the usual spot. He quickly arranged his stuff in the closet and the last thing he pulled out of his bag was his duel disc. 

He looked at it, expectating as he sat down on the futon, as if by doing so Flame would pop out of it and praise him for putting everything in order.

It didn't take long for him to let out a dry, empty laugh.

“We are home...” He put down the duel disk right next to his pillow and turned the lights off.

* * *

He promised Kiku they’d go to Link VRAINS together and, after at least a few hours trying to restore his password, both connected to the red.

By the time he tried to explain to Kiku how to open the menu that would allow her to build her deck, she was already lost in the black hole that was avatar customization. He himself remembered the hours he spent doing that with Flame, picking an appearance that was worthy of the name they picked together.

_ Soulburner. _

He smiled at that memory, thinking maybe now he could add another one to that category.

“You gonna be done anytime soon?” He asked just to mess up with Kiku but he only received a vague  _ mhm _ from his distracted friend.

* * *

S ummer vacations were over and just as he promised he was getting ready to reincorporate to the school course, this time for real, when a notification rang on his phone.

He wasn’t planning on opening it but as he looked at the screen Yusaku’s name was there alongside the preview of a message:

_ I found Ai. _

His hands trembled as he took his phone and rested his back on the cold wall so as to not fall down on his knees. He felt like he forgot how to breathe and had to mentally remind himself that inhaling and exhaling were necessary to stay alive.

If he opened the message, would there be something else written?

Trembling, he clicked the notification; the time it took for it to load felt eternal, anxiety crawling at him.

_ Yusaku Fujiki. Sent 7:52 AM _

_ I found Ai. _

That was all.

* * *

He didn’t have the strength to go to class. Not after he sent hundreds of messages to Yusaku asking if he knew anything about the other Ignis and got nothing in response.

He stared at his duel disk and phone, waiting for any of those to give him some kind of signal.

A hint that Flame may be coming back.

Hours passed and frustration built up, turning to anger. Fury was taking him over once more and he smashed his phone against the wall, breaking it.

“God damn- FUCK!” Next it was his duel disk which he threw out of the window with all the strength he could muster before letting himself fall to the floor, covering his face with his hands, rubbing it so hard as if he was trying to erase his face.

He was tired of feeling like this, always waiting for some kind of sign from someone else to start moving. Tired of feeling like he didn’t matter. Tired of being the one left behind.

He simply wanted everything to be over.

Drowning in his own pain, he found himself wishing that Yusaku had never found Ai.

* * *

“Takeru!”

He lifted his face just to see Kiku on his doorstep, concern was notorious and it seemed that he looked just as terrible as he felt because Kiku didn’t wait a second to approach and sit in front of him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry for skipping class again” His own voice was almost unrecognizable, his swollen eyes burning from all the crying.

“You know I'm not here because of that,” Kiku was always understanding with him even without knowing everything, and to be honest he didn’t understand how she was still his friend when he did nothing but bring her trouble. “You didn’t answer my calls so I got worried”

“I broke it,” He said pointing to the side where his phone was, in pieces. “Sorry, I didn’t want to worry you” He wiped his tears with his shirt and did his best to smile.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to go back yet, Takeru” Of course Kiku would say something like that.

Within the few people around him, Kiku was the only one who didn’t feel like she was pressuring him to move on. Kiku wasn’t stuck in time like he was, but that didn't mean she was not waiting for him.

“No, no. It's not that, i'm just...” He stopped and took a deep breath. He couldn’t keep leaving Kiku in the shadows of what was happening to him, not when she was always preoccupied with what happened to him and ended up being affected one way or the other. “Kiku” He took her hands. “I think it's time to tell you

the real reason I went to Den City”

* * *

He told Kiku everything.

The incident, the Ignis, and although he avoided revealing Playmaker’s identity it was so obvious that Kiku figured it out by herself when he mentioned Yusaku.

“If what you are telling me is true, then this is something really important to you, isn't it?” Kiku pulled his duel disk out of her bag and handed it to him. “I was passing by on my way home and it nearly hit me in the head. Couldn’t do much about the damage but I decided to bring it back to you anyway.”

He gripped the duel disk between his hands. The purple orb was broken, the carcass was cracked and missing pieces; It was unusable.

“Err… I doubt you'll be able to use it again, but if you want to log into VRAINS I can always lend you mine”

“I don’t think that’ll be necessary,” There was no reason to go back to Link VRAINS. He didn’t need Soulburner anymore and he wouldn’t bear seeing Playmaker flying around with Ai by his side. Setting his duel disk to the side, he hugged Kiku. “Thank you.”

“There’s nothing to thank me for… you cry baby” Then Kiku caressed his hair, just like she did the day he came back home.

* * *

Kiku offered to spend the night and he ended up sleeping with his head resting on Kiku’s lap.

Her company was comforting, but he started to suspect Kiku was already planning to stay in order to drag him to school the next morning, as Kiku brought her school bag, and a smaller one with her uniform.

* * *

Yes, he attended regular classes with no problem back in Den City, but that was a completely different feeling from this. When he entered the classroom everybody stared at him and the whole day his classmates did nothing but point and gossip on his behalf; everyone here knew him as the problematic thug who skipped classes and now he presented himself perfectly uniformed and wearing glasses.

It was uncomfortable to say the least and he just wanted to become invisible.

When the bell rang he didn’t wait for permission. Almost by instinct, his body moved to avoid any and all who was on his way and by the time he realized he was already sitting by the docks, holding his duel disk.

Kiku found him not much after and sat down next to him.

“He won’t come back. Flame won’t come back.” His eyes burned but only now did he realize he was crying yet again. “I already knew that and yet...” It didn’t matter how he put it or what he said to deny it.

Losing Flame was like losing a big part of himself. It didn’t matter how much he repeated it he just couldn’t stop thinking maybe Flame would magically come back; he was incapable of letting go of him and now he dragged the memories of him at every step he made as if clinging to this hollow hope.

He could imagine the same was true for Yusaku.

If he had had the chance to find Flame, he too would have turned his back on everyone just to do so. He couldn’t blame Yusaku for turning his back on the world when the world turned its back on them first. But he also couldn’t avoid being jealous of the luck he had, envying him for having Ai back.

Or resenting him for not even dignifying his messages with a simple  _ no. _

Without saying anything, Kiku reached for his hand and he did the same; now that Kiku knew everything he didn’t feel as lonely.

* * *

Regular school life was hell and he could only think of how much he’d rather go back to being a reckless thug without a worry in the world.

At least he discovered he wasn’t as bad at math as he thought, but he still sucked at English and history was just a whole other level of hell. Oh well, that's what he got for getting kidnapped as a kid and having emotional trauma, no?

He laid his head back on his desk, exhausted with his insufferable English homework. Maybe if he hadn't broken his phone he could use the translator but, whoops, his phone was irreparable from the last time and he didn't dare ask his grandparents for a replacement.

He didn’t have a computer either.

“Takeru!!” Kiku slammed the door open. “You left me waiting for you in the library for HOURS and ran away!”

“Shit- was tutoring today?”

“Tutoring is every day, you dumbass!!”

Another thing he discovered in this new regular student life was how scary Kiku truly was.

* * *

He graduated, somehow he really did it. Today everyone congratulated him, even his grandfather who’d remained distant walked up to him, patted his back and stayed for the commemorative picture. At home, they’d be waiting for him with dinner to celebrate but before heading there with them he decided to take a small detour.

He looked at the sunset, standing with his duel disk set on his wrist. The purple orb Flame used to pop out of was full of cracks from that time he threw it away through the window to let out his own frustration.

“Flame...” He ran his fingers over the cracks; before breaking it he always expected that one day, it would lit up and Flame’s voice would come out of it to tell him he was back.

Obviously that never happened and much less would it happen now that the duel disk was so broken.

“I kept moving forward as I promised,” He pressed the button that released the wristband and held the duel disk with one hand. “I would have wanted you to be here but” He felt a lump in his throat, even now mentioning Flame was painful. “Thank you for everything”

He softly pressed his forehead to the broken orb, this was their last goodbye.

Giving one step back he stretched out his arm before throwing his duel disk away and seeing it sink away.

* * *

He couldn’t remember the last time his house was so lively.

Kiku’s parents had come over for a joint celebration and the table was full of food, endless chitchatting between his grandmother and Kiku’s mom replaced the usual silence and even his grandfather occasionally grumped when he was brought up in the conversation. He could barely talk with Kiku over all the noise but it didn’t bother him at all.

When dinner was over and he could finally walk upstairs to his room the first thing he saw was his duel disk right in the middle of his futon.

“You shouldn’t throw things like that into the ocean, do you know how much pollution something like this could cause?”

The duel disk showed no sign of being operational and yet he could still hear him, was he finally losing his mind?

“I didn’t think you were the kind of person who would throw away something so important. I used to live there, or did you forget? How would you feel if someone came by and threw your house to the bottom of the ocean?”

It took him a moment to realize that the voice was coming from his side, from the ember-eyed young man who was sitting comfortably in his desk chair.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, thanks for reading!  
> Honestly, people often overlook Kiku bc of the implications of VRAINS finale without giving her any credit for being the one friend Takeru always had and that just rubs me the wrong way. I really wanted to write something that focused on their friendship and Takeru dealing with his loss of Flame and having to move forward without him.  
> Still, at the end of the day, I couldn't bring myself to leave it at a bittersweet ending and had to bring Flame back home to Takeru.  
> I put a lot of feelings into this, and in the end, I liked it enough to post it.


End file.
